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CU tuition increase hitting law students hardest

Rates for incoming students will go up 15 percent

By Brittany Anas Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
03/30/2010 09:48:32 PM MDT

Updated:
04/05/2011 03:14:23 PM MDT

Monica Hughes, a first-year law student at the University of Colorado, studies Tuesday at the Wolf Law Building. Law students will be hit the hardest by the tuition increase approved Monday by CU s Board of Regents.
(
MARTY CAIVANO
)

When he finishes law school at the University of Colorado, Sean Dormer expects he'll be saddled with $200,000 of student-loan debt.

The first-year law student is leaning toward a modest-paying, public-interest field and says "there are more important things in life than money." His in-state tuition tab next year will be $24,264, up 10.5 percent from this year's rate.

The increase, despite his motto, will be burdensome, Dormer acknowledged.

"But, this is what I want to do with my life," he said Tuesday, while taking a break from studying at the Wolf Law Building on campus.

Under tuition rates approved by CU's Board of Regents on Monday, law students face the steepest increases next year, with prices rising as much as 15 percent for incoming, in-state students. Annual tuition for those students will be $27,702.

From left, Lisa Fischer, Lisa Saccomano and David Pigott, all law students at the University of Colorado, work in the commons area of the Wolf Law Building on Tuesday. (Marty Caivano)

Third-year law students from Colorado will pay $22,806, which is 11.6 percent more than their counterparts pay this year.

Law students said they're resigned to taking out more loans, and some plan to graduate with debt in the six figures, contending with their aspirations to pursue careers in service-oriented fields.

David Getches, dean of the law school, said shrinking state support is driving the tuition increase.

First-year law students also pay a "differential tuition" rate, with the money helping the law school become more independent from state and campus funding, he said. Revenue from the differential tuition, a structure CU Law introduced five years ago, also helps fund scholarships.

The law school offers a post-graduation program that helps pay down the loans of graduates who take public-service jobs. An anonymous $250,000 donation recently bolstered the program, Getches said.

Nearly nine out of 10 law graduates are employed within nine months, according to the law school. Of those students, 14 percent worked for government agencies with pay ranging from $43,000 to $102,000. Seven percent worked in public interest and nonprofit fields, with salaries ranging from $35,000 to $50,000. The highest-paid graduates worked in large firms, starting at up to $160,000 a year.

CU Regent Joe Neguse, a Boulder Democrat and recent graduate of the law school, reminded his fellow regents Monday that CU-Boulder offers the state's only public law school. Tuition at the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law is $36,000 this year, and the private school says rates typically rise 5 to 7 percent every year.

Neguse questioned the sharp increases for CU's law school, but joined his colleagues in voting for the system-wide tuition hikes, which raise rates 9 percent for all in-state undergraduates and most in-state graduates; 5 percent for incoming non-resident undergraduates; and 3 percent for most non-resident graduates. Only Regent Tom Lucero, R-Berthoud, dissented.

Second-year law student Elise Aiken said she expects to graduate with $100,000 in debt, which wouldn't be such a daunting figure if she had aspirations to work for a big law firm. Instead, she said she wants to take on a career in environmental law, which she doesn't expect to pay a colossal salary.

"I'm definitely pretty concerned about it," Aiken said. "It will just increase the amount of loans I take out."

Halleh Tabrizi, also a second-year law student, is planning for a career in family and juvenile law. She's bracing for $70,000 worth of student-loan debt.

"I understand that tuition has to go up, and that's just one of the harsh realities," she said.

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